Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can be used to provide low-cost, low-power lighting in a variety of situations, including home, automotive, and commercial. Furthermore, multiple LEDs can be placed together in order to form patterns that can be recognized by those observing the LEDs.
However, each LED is effectively a point-source of light. When multiple LEDs are placed together in any sort of pattern, the pattern forms only a pattern of dots of light, which can lead to some problems. For example, such a pattern may be misinterpreted if an observer joins the dots of light together in a manner unintended by the user. Also, the visual display of multiple dots of light is not necessarily aesthetically pleasing for showing a pattern.
As a result of this, there is an inherent limit on the usefulness and attractiveness of conventional patterned LED devices. For functional and aesthetic reasons, many designers and consumers would like any LED pattern to be more easily visible and contiguous in its appearance.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a flexible lighting device that includes multiple light-emitting elements in a pattern such that the light from the light-emitting elements was diffused into the pattern rather than appearing from the point-sources of the late-emitting elements.